A detox diet will help with symptoms of Lyme & all disease

My lunch plan used to begin with the question ‘What do I feel like today?’ but since my Lyme Disease and co-infection diagnoses, I’ve had to think differently.

I now believe the most important part of my recovery is diet - detox is essential and certain foods will not only aid elimination, they'll also attack pathogens. Likewise certain foods will feed the machine that is disease. When I veer off the straight and narrow, boy do my symptoms flare up. I've just spent the last ten days recovering from eating, drinking and generally acting like I didn't have Lyme.

                

Keeping that in mind, today I created this delicious dish with sauerkraut for gut health, and salmon for omega, a dash of Himalayan salt for balancing blood sugar and ph, black pepper which aids digestion, extra virgin olive oil for its antioxidants, lemon for vitamin C + digestion, and apple cider vinegar (with the mother) for all manner of health properties - as well as flavour of course! I used a wholegrain spelt organic pasta as a base, cucumber for crunch and rocket to make it zing!

       

I’m not a doctor or a dietician, but I am suffering with Lyme Disease or rather the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria. This spirochete does not like certain foods; such as parsley which aids metal detox and celery, which is full of mineral salts and provides gut acid (something I’m lacking).                        

Educating myself on what to eat has been vital for getting better. I’ve learnt that as much as a little of what you fancy does you good, a little of what you wouldn’t usually have fancied, can do you better! 

💚

Neurologically speaking

Monday I went to London for work; I travel up once a month to produce the audio version of Tesco magazine that I also script. I’ve done it for over ten years and I love both the work and my team to bits. Monday though, I shouldn't have gone. The brain fog was extreme. I sat reading the intro having an almost out of body experience as neuro symptoms played havoc. After getting through it, I found myself struggling to get home, literally putting one foot in front of the other was exhausting. 

Having taken my recovery situation seriously, I’ve been in bed ever since. Learning to listen to a lyme ravaged body is the only way. This morning, the fog is clearing and my energy returning. I’ve neurological Lyme. This equates to major cognitive processing issues and my brain tires easily. Recognising and accepting this is very much key to understanding the stealth pathogens associated with tick borne diseases. 

Changing my diet has helped enormously. Grapefruit is just one of the foods that Lyme doesn't like. By changing my diet I am starving the bacteria. The detox is difficult to sometimes stick to. Of course it is. Who wants to eat so 'cleanly' all the time? Last week we were away for half term and not only did my diet steer off course, I kept up with everyone as if I didn't have Lyme at all - staying up 'til 1am one night, pushing myself each day until Lyme eventually caught up with me. Of course it did.

If you saw the post prior to this, you will know that only a few weeks ago, I felt incredible. With the help of a great naturopath, I AM seeing great results. I’ve been doing so well lately. This was a blatant reminder that I'm not there yet. Yes I have more energy but the difference is, I don't have stamina. I need to remember that. Monday scared me. If you have Lyme you will recognise you need to say ‘no’ to stuff. Recognise you need to not overdo it. Frankly recognise you need. And that is crap. 

Ayia Napa, Cyprus

It's not Greece and it's not Turkey. It's Cyprus. As large as Cornwall, with two airports bringing countless tourists from mainly the UK, Russia and Germany, to enjoy a handful of destinations mostly along the bottom two thirds of its aqua coloured coastline. We came to Ayia Napa, situated on the east coast, close to the border that splits north and south Cyprus.

I always imagined Ayia Napa to be a place for hipsters and clubbers all rolled into one; clubsters, but that must be a myth? I never saw an inch of nightlife, instead finding families with small babies, enjoying the easiness of the resort and its 'no problem' attitude.

I certainly left my worries behind. I think they may have been dropped on the floor at home somewhere around the time I was emptying the bins, bleaching the bogs, or hoovering - what is it about leaving a clean home?

46/52 The GraceFaith year long art project

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year...

TOP TEN LIST OF THINGS TO DO THIS OCTOBER HALF TERM

HALLOWEEN is coming, so let’s hope it’s a dry half term as there’s nothing worse than soggy trick or treaters! Although we’ve plenty of ideas for keeping the troops occupied indoors - here’s our top ten list of things to do over the holiday week…

Mayfair Lady

Emma Oliver heads across town to taste the wares of the newly launched Low Tea at The Luggage Room - notably one of Mayfair’s best-kept secrets…

Imagine you’ve seen the latest exhibition at the Royal Academy and just (window) shopped Bond Street. Now you’re ready for something to eat, but have a dinner booking later. What could possibly fill the gap?

PARTY SEASON – dealing with the day after the night before

Want to know how to help with your hangover? Life As It Is got in touch with nutritional therapist Shona Wilkinson for some expert advice in the run up to the party season…

Lots of us have experienced the discomfort and frustration of alcohol hangover at some time or other. But let’s face it, with Christmas and New Year knocking on our doors, and the party season soon to be in full swing, there’s potential for many sore heads looming. So why and how does a hangover occur and what can we do to help ourselves?    

Coeliac V Stomach ulcer - Tummy Troubles (4)

So I have this bulbous stomach issue - more on that later. Anyway, they went in looking for coeliac disease, and came out finding an ulcer. Consequently I was left high and dry, given Omeprazole to heal the stomach lining and told to lay right off the booze. I have. It has been an impressive ten weeks now - give or take the one night I fell off the wagon (in a most dramatic way).

Tomorrow they go back in again (down not up) to see if  said ulcer has healed. And how do I feel about that? Hopeful. Fingers crossed that the hard work has paid off.



FOOTNOTE < ADDED 5 MAY 2016

IT HAS PAID OFF! ULCER HAS HEALED. PROUD OF MYSELF! 

LIFE AS IT IS This week in... Feb 2016 - Tummy Troubles (3)

Don't assume a woman is pregnant - even if she looks six months gone...

Looking down at my abdomen and again in profile - the bloating has become more severe of late. I wake in the morning and my tummy is normal. I drink a glass of water, and oh yeah up she rises. I'm wondering if an ulcer alone could possibly be responsible for this reaction? To help combat it - together with the wonder drug Omeprazole which heals the stomach lining - I started a probiotic, but rather wonderfully, all that brought me was a commonal garden bird. FFS. Oh, and I had to dig the nit comb out - although that itch was more than likely due to a new hair product: Some mousse I bought in a bid to inflate my lack lustre locks. Perhaps I'm allergic to that? While I'm on the subject of hair, last week I took the scissors to mine and I'm feeling quite lopsided now, wearing a rather unsteady base line chop which I'm viewing positively by calling it texture. Funny thing is, I go to the hairdresser, no one says a word, I do it myself and I've had a plethora of praise. Are people being kind do you think? So as my LIFE AS IT IS bumbles along, I do have one positive to mention about the fact that I'm looking very pregnant these days... I'm getting offered a seat on the underground every time. Chivalry appears to be very much alive and kicking - unlike the baby within.

Struggling to give up the booze - A poem - Tummy Troubles (2)

Don't ask me how it's going - it's only been one week.
Truth is, it's bloody hard and I'm feeling very weak.
Friday night was hardest but even Monday wasn't great,
And now that it's the weekend, I'm thinking of my mate.

Not the one dressed to the nines and heading to the Ritz,
Who'll later neck Dom Perignon and get right off her titz.
Nor the one that's laden down with Cristal, Cru and Boli,
White wine, red wine, and rose, sitting in her trolley.

Coeliac V Stomach ulcer - Tummy Troubles (1)

So they go in looking for coeliac disease, and they come out finding a stomach ulcer.

Good job that I gave up coffee. Not so good that I left it so long.

I'm convinced it's the sheer amount of coffee I consumed year after year that led to an ulcer.

Oh and stress of course. For motherhood and my Life As It Is has certainly been stressful at times. Goodness, you only have to read this or this to see how manic it has been. And what did I nearly always turn to on these occasions? A good glass bottle of wine. Mmm. Like a lot of us do. Alas, no more for me I'm afraid. Doctor's orders.

Tonight will be my last hurrah for a while. Out to a joint 40th to enjoy letting my hair down before I stop drinking booze for 6 weeks. The thought itself is enough to finish me off. I've never been up for a dry January - let alone a dry part Feb, March, and part April. Feck!

A parting thought... and a sobering one at that... endoscopes are not pleasant.

LIFE AS IT IS - Tummy Troubles

Off for a gastro camera today. Not worried about it although I'm sure it won't be that easy to stomach. There's a question mark over coeliac disease. And not just with me.

Fia had cameras both ends a few months ago due to blood in her stools. After almost a year of wondering, they found and removed a polyp that had been 4x2 cms in size. Huge. Certainly for a wee girlie.

Unbelievably (or perhaps not), the hospital phoned me yesterday to say that they had not tested the blood they took last month correctly, and that she will need yet another blood test. It will be her sixth.

So from a mother who has been told her child is not a coeliac, I now wait to find out again. I now have the pleasure of taking her for another blood test.

And I told her there would be no more needles for a very long time.

That's our current LIFE AS IT IS...

coeliac.org.uk

FRAMED

déjeune en Paris

Paris has a beauty and charm that defies time - yet still it had been far too long since my last visit. So there I was again, invited for lunch. And being lunch in Paris, come on... it was never going to be disappointing now was it? The food and drink - masterfully paired, were an overwhelmingly good onslaught on the tastebuds. I was left wanting more... 

Getting creative with Nanny

Loving the Christmas food sculpture that the girls created today with Nanny. Gorgeous!

FRAMED - who says you need a kitchen to cook?

Incidentally, that's my kitchen, flat packed in the boxes behind!

Sandwich musings of a 4YO

M: Sofia, what would you like in your sandwich? Cheese, tomato and salad cream?
S: No thanks.
M: Cheese and salad cream?
S: Just salad cream.

Reclaim your lunch and your mojo!

Having a hot lunch is hot news!

So I've been up to town for work this week, and it's so cold isn't it? Anyway, hungry, I simply had to stop for food. Fortunately this is London and I knew looking for somewhere to grab a sandwich wouldn't take long. Although I kept walking past Caffè Nero - hey, I don't drink coffee anymore... Although I hadn't realised that they started doing hot dinners. When did that happen? Actually, the smell is what got me through the door. Check out my lunch...

Fit for school with ProVen probiotics

For years now I've had the kids on a probiotic. Initially, this stemmed from their cows milk allergy days; irritated digestive systems and upset guts. As time has gone on and my children have started at school, (the GraceFaith girls are now 7 and 4), I've realised that as a result of being on a probiotic, they haven't picked up on half as many nasties as other kids, and whenever they have potentially picked up a sick bug, symptoms have never been severe. Hence my children are still on a probiotic, for really why should they suffer? 

Juicing - An In-house experiment (3) All about Braun (Vlogs).

Details
Braun Identity Spin Juicer (J500) 
RRP: £129.99
Awards: Most Innovative Award (Plus X). 
Let me vlog that into perspective for you...

1) How to assemble